The present invention relates to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) teaching apparatus; and more particulary, it relates to a simulator for teaching neonatal CPR resuscitation.
In many emergency medical situations, such as heart attack, stroke, electrical shock, drowning, etc., there is the need to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an effort to revive the accident victim. CPR, however, requires correctly applied and synchronized insufflations and external heart massage. Unless properly performed, CPR is not only ineffective, but can cause further injury to the victim. Heart massage action must be applied at the proper point on the chest, with the appropriate force magnitude, and at the appropriate rate. Applied insufflations must be at the appropriate rate and air pressure. Accordingly, proper CPR technique should be learned before it is attempted on someone.
In order to facilitate the teaching and practicing of CPR, adult-sized mannequin simulators have been developed. In learning CPR, it is important to be able to evaluate various resuscitation parameters, including: the adequacy of insufflation, the rate at which breathing and cardiac compressions are performed, and the ratio of breathing to compressions. Accordingly, the simulators are provided with mechanisms imitating respiratory organs and registering chest compressions, which are mounted inside the thorax of the mannequin. A recording device for making a written record reflective of the resuscitation parameters during a training exercise on the simulator is also mounted in the thorax of the mannequin. The recording device is mechanically coupled to the mechanisms and is operated in response to movement of the mechanisms during insufflation and heart massage. Representative of this type of mannequin CPR simulator is the apparatus shown and described in Laerdal, U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,362 issued May 29, 1973.
While most often CPR will be performed on adults and adolescents, there are instances in which newborn babies and young infants require CPR. Adult-sized mannequin simulators are not altogether satisfactory in teaching neonatal resuscitation. At most, the mannequin simulator torso is provided with a spring tension metal band of adjustable stiffness to simulate patients of various ages. This arrangement does not accurately simulate an infant and is not totally satisfactory for teaching neonatal resuscitation.
Clearly, an infant-sized mannequin simulator would be advantageous in teaching neonatal CPR. However, the limited internal volume of the chest of an infant mannequin prevents the mounting therein of mechanisms and recording devices as found in adult-sized mannequin simulators. Accordingly, infant simulators heretofore known have included either no provision for evaluating CPR parameters or merely provided an aneroid-like device to indicate heart compressions.